<p>Our son has been home since graduation and started with a very mild cough which he explained as a dry tickle. We all have mild seasonal allergies so we assumed that was the culprit. However, pollen levels have subsided but the cough has not. In fact, it seems to be getting worse. He went to his GP yesterday and they ruled out anything major, saying it was allergies and prescribed a cough syrup.</p>
<p>My H and I had wondered if he had a nervous tic as when he was much younger we remember him scrunching up his face fairly often for a period of time. That went away, and then we recall him rubbing his fingers together quickly or wiggling his toes regularly. I can even remember him saying at one time in his early teens that he felt like he ‘just HAD to do it’. But that seemed to go away as well (as far as we could see.)</p>
<p>In college, when he would get sick with a cold from being run down, he would always have this dry cough that seemed to persist well after the cold got better. We knew the kids were not getting enough sleep, stressed, eating poorly, so we chalked up the colds and accompanying cough to that. We even joked and started calling it the ‘college cough’ thinking he was just in a permanent state of fatigue and stress.</p>
<p>He has also been scratching a dry patch on his scalp (he has had dry scalp/psoriasis before) and then examining his hand immediately after, going back and forth several times. He does it so often that both H and I have made comments to him about it.</p>
<p>Now we’re thinking these may indeed be compulsive behaviors but we’re not sure how to approach the subject with him or where to start with getting him help and relief. Being back home and starting a new job has it’s stressors for sure, so we’re thinking this might be prompting the symptoms. Has anyone had a similar experience and how did you handle it?</p>
<p>Are these behaviors bothering him? If not, I 'd just let it go. Lots of people have harmless tics (I have a persistent right shoulder shrug which most people dont notice; it comes and goes and certainly isn’t something I’d seek “help” about.)</p>
<p>My older son (diagnosed with very mild Tourettes when he was 9) sometimes has the throat clearing tic. I don’t consider it a big deal and his neurologist felt as long as the tics weren’t too annoying they should just be ignored. They’ve gotten much less noticeable as he’s gotten older, but tend to wax a bit when he’s under stress.</p>
<p>The only thing that bothers him is the coughing as it is very persistent right now. He was even at work the other day and said during a meeting it was tickling so bad that tears streamed down his face in an attempt to stifle it! To me that sounds stress-induced, but I’m no professional. He does not wake up at night with it, which also leads me to believe it is stress-related. I’m hoping it will subside…maybe as the stress of the new job does.</p>
<p>I had a tic like that as a child, which thankfully subsided and was replaced with others that were much less obvious to other people-- nobody, not even my parents, knows I have them. When they are bothering me they are the most frustrating thing in the world, I could tear my hair out over them. If it is a tic I feel sorry for your son, he must be so frustrated. The more you try to stifle it the worse you have to do it. These days it only happens if I am nervous or trying to concentrate very hard-- you know, the most inconvenient times possible. It’s never woken me up at night. I hope your S finds relief. I don’t notice mine anymore most of the time but I still do it. Have to. If I could see my neurologist she would probably help me, maybe that’s something to consider.</p>
<p>My D develops a dry cough whenever she is unwell. Started when she was about 14. The cough is worse than the original illness. Diagnosed a few years ago as asthma- doesn’t present as normal asthma symptoms,her lungs are clear and no wheeze. She takes qvar inhaler as a preventative measure in the fall/ winter months and has an allbuterol inhaler for when the cough is severe. She doesn’t suffer as much now that she can control it. I can almost see it in her eyes when she is about to have an attack. She just doesn’t look well. A day sleeping and the inhalers usually keeps it in check.</p>
<p>I would get him checked out by an asthma specialist. Best wishes- a persistent dry cough can drive everyone concerned nuts!</p>
<p>My son just finished his freshman year and to my dismay, developed ‘college cough’ after a cold in Oct. It lasted until he he moved out of the dorm last month. His physician said it was either allergies or ‘sick room’ syndrome. I think it was stress related as he first developed it when he was pledging a fraternity and was getting zero sleep and eating sporadically. I don’t think stress itself caused it but I think the stress lowered his immune system and made it harder to kick. Antihistamines and a steroid nasal spray seemed to help.</p>
<p>Certainly worth checking out the root of the cough, in case it is something serious, but you sure can’t rule out that this might just be another new tic. They can be hard to distinguish, can seem to go away but might just be replaced by something less noticeable. It could easily be chronic tic disorder, or low level Tourettes (really the same thing, it’s just a matter of scale).</p>
<p>Your comment, "I can even remember him saying at one time in his early teens that he felt like he ‘just HAD to do it’. " and, “He has also been scratching a dry patch on his scalp (he has had dry scalp/psoriasis before) and then examining his hand immediately after, going back and forth several times. He does it so often that both H and I have made comments to him about it,” are very telling statements.</p>
<p>Look online at some Tourettes sites, and you may recognize some things you hadn’t noticed before. There can be so many tics that people don’t even notice. Sniffing, blinking, scratching, neck rolling, compulsive behavior. You can’t stop them from doing it, it’s not just a habit that can be trained out of them, but there are some non-invasive ways to keep it to a minimum. And very often, kids (generally boys) by the time they are in their early twenties, it will subside.</p>
<p>Thanks for the thoughtful comments. The cough isn’t getting much better even with the cough syrup. I’m sort of a nut about nutrition and organic products and tend to think if he GREATLY improved his diet things would improve. But I tend to drive the three men in my life a little crazy with the subject, so I have to go easy. Very frustrating.</p>
<p>When my D was about nine she had a slight tick (face scrunching, I think). I asked the Dr. about it and she wasn’t concerned and said that most tics go away on their own and that nine is a common age for them. It did pass in time. Anyway, more importantly, she said that it was important that we NOT point out to my D that she was doing it. It was hard but I did ignore it. Don’t know if this applies to young adults but I do think that pointing it out will make him more self conscious and it might make it worse.</p>
<p>There was a wonderful section of a show on PBS showing a new treatment for tourettes that teaches kids to manage and change their symptoms/tics by carefully analyzing where/when/why tics take place, and replacing them with new behaviors. (such as relaxing jaw and breathing out gently to replace mouth grimace).</p>
<p>Before you write off the cough to being a nervous tic, I’d STRONGLY urge you to ask the doc to evaluate it to be sure there isn’t a physical cause, as I wrote in my prior post, but of course, it’s you & S’s call.</p>
<p>I agre with HIMom. While it could be a tic, there are lots of illnesses that can cause a dry, persistent cough. Not to scare the OP but I know three people whose lung cancer started out with this as the first symptom. Two of them never smoked. And in all cases it was originally dismissed as nothing major If it persists, he needs to do some more follow-up - I would insist on at least a chest x-ray.</p>
<p>The cough is still problematic. He will be leaving for a week vacation so if this is still going on when he returns I will definitely be taking the advice of MomLive and HImom and get him a chest x-ray to rule out anything more serious. Thank you for the wisdom here. It is so appreciated. I’m praying that by the time he returns the cough is history.</p>
<p>I would normally say it is a tic, given his other repetitive motions. OUr oldest daughter has mild OCD and does have a weird little cough. Also has some other little things she “has to do”. Mostly has learned to control it over the years. However, the tears streaming down his face sounds like allergies. Over the last 2-3 years, I have a horribly itchy throat about 8 months out of the year. It is so bad that I also have tears running down my face much of the time, and always have watery eyes. I have to suck on cough drops to go to sleep. My Dr. had me start taking claritin on a daily basis for allergies, even when I am not having problems. It has really taken care of the problem most of the time. No more tears and the itch is mild to nothing. Worth a try. NOte that I bought the store brand of claritin once to save money, and it was not nearly as effective.</p>
<p>@mathmom, my son was diagnosed with mild tic disorder too when he was around 5 years old and the doctors said just to ignore if it did not bother him. Now he is a senior who has done good in school and applying for colleges. He has done lot of voluntary work for the tourette cause.</p>
<p>I think someone who had depression in the past threads who had nearly perfect stats was rejected by all the top colleges. Do you think that top colleges reject such kids?</p>
<p>Also if you don’t mind could you please let me know if your son mentioned about it in the application or not. I would greatly appreciate your advice. Thanks,</p>
<p>Nick, top colleges reject lots of kids. If your acceptance rate is in the single digits you are rejecting over 90% of the applicants, most of whom are well qualified. My son did not mention tics on his application at all. They really are almost unnoticeable these days. No worse than someone who chews their fingernails or cracks their knuckles.</p>
<p>My daughter, now 13, had this exact tic. It lasted for over a year. The doctor said at was a tic and to just ignore it, which was hard to do sometimes.</p>
<p>She does have nervous, OCD tendencies, maybe is was a form of stress relief for her?</p>